Chicken-Filled Chaos

Chicken-Filled Chaos

By Emory Bowdler

Photo by Emory Bowdler

Everyone knows Cane’s–simple, delicious, reliable. Or is it? 

The supply chain demands caused by COVID-19 have affected many parts and products of the world, but chicken is the most important thing. Since the price of chicken went up, many businesses cut their chicken quality, including Cane’s. 

Pre-quarantine Cane’s was a staple to the New Orleans fast-food industry. There are 63 stores located across Louisiana, according to Cane’s official website. Great prices, great quality, and great sauce. Everyone used to love Cane’s. 

I polled 15 students around the Willow School during October, asking their thoughts about Cane’s from before COVID and the related supply shortages, compared to Cane’s now.

“The chicken got dryer low-key,” senior Tenchi Otten-Rashad said. 

Junior Gabe Pizzolatto, agreed, saying, “I would say I haven’t had a good, elite chicken in a while.” 

“It costs too much for what you get,”  said junior Enzo Marino. 

Junior Max Moorman agreed, saying, “The size of the chicken is half of a chicken tender before.”

Junior Jaela Mitchell broke the problem down, saying, “There’s two things that go into food–the taste and the experience of it. Everything has changed.”

Junior Elodie Provosty agreed but also had a positive note to sing. “The chicken is smaller and the fries are really dry or soggy, but the sauce is the thing that saves it.”

Some students have opinions about why the prices seem to have gone up but the chicken size has gone down.

“Inflation and price raises are not mutually exclusive,” junior Kaj Friis-Hecht explains. “It can be a supply chain issue, or many other attributing factors. There is a chicken shortage right now and a higher demand for chicken.” 

But none of that matters when Cane’s puts their sauce on it. Because of how good the Cane’s sauce is, it doesn’t matter what the quality of the food is underneath.  If it’s dipped in Cane’s signature sweet, tangy sauce, it will taste amazing. 

“The sauce carries the menu,” said junior Evan Gulden.

“I would never eat Cane’s without the sauce,” said junior Keelen Landrum, expressing the general sentiment among those polled towards Cane’s in 2023. 

Even after all this critique, I will still be eating at Cane’s, as will many of the students I interviewed. We love Cane’s, and we just want it to go back to the way it was.